Take Two: Longmont farmer benefits from interest-free loan program

Lafayette company said the program won't be expanded this year

By Tony Kindelspire

Times-Call staff writer

Posted:
03/30/2014 09:56:38 PM MDT

Updated:
03/30/2014 09:59:12 PM MDT

Dave Asbury of Full Circle Farm surveys a field of winter spinach on Thursday. Between the spinach is wheat, which — small as it is — acts as a wind break. Asbury said the spinach should be ready to harvest in about a month. (Lewis Geyer / Longmont Times-Call)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Times-Call's series Take Two revisits people or situations about which we have written previously. Take Two stories run on Mondays.

An interest-free loan program tested out last year by Lafayette-based Door to Door Organics won't be expanded this year, although the company said it's not ruling out doing so in the future.

The company still considers the test it launched with Longmont farmer Dave Asbury a win-win for both sides, according to Door to Door's produce director, Steve Versoi.

Door to Door Organics, which delivers organic fruits and vegetables to customers on the Front Range and in eight other states, loaned Asbury $50,000 at the beginning of spring 2013, in what is the leanest time of year for most farmers, when expenses are heavy but no money is coming in.

The winter spinach being grown on Full Circle Farms north of Longmont should be ready in about a month, farmer Dave Asbury said. (Lewis Geyer / Longmont Times-Call)

"We think it went very well, providing them with some cash up front to start their season and having them pay us back over time," Versoi said.

David Clark, Door to Door's chief operating officer, said the company is not expanding the loan program to more farmers this year because it is examining its own capital needs for 2014, but it will revisit that decision in the future.

Clark said his company bought $130,000 worth of lettuce, cabbage, zucchini and other produce from Asbury, so he considers the loan a very good investment. He hope to make a similar loan to Asbury this year.

"We're currently in talks with Dave to do just that, but we haven't dotted the I's and crossed the T's just yet," Clark said.

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Asbury said that at this time of year, he's primarily putting money out to do what he calls "top work," plowing and preparing the seed beds.

"In farming, you're always front-loaded," he said. "You front-load it and take all the risk, but you never see anything back from it (until July at the earliest)."

Asbury said that $50,000 may not seem like a lot of money to some people — he'll spend way more than that on seed alone — but the fact that it comes in at this time of year and is interest-free is a big deal to him.

"If you find a bank that doesn't charge you interest, you've got a heck of a bank there," Asbury said. "(Door to Door) doesn't charge us interest. They're not a lender, they're a partner."

He also pointed out that Door to Door has been a customer of his since the day the company opened its doors, and for that he's very appreciative.

"They believe in what we do and they're a really strong supporter of the farm," he said.

Dave Asbury took advantage last year of a no-interest loan from Door to Door Organics to carry him through the lean times. The loan program proved to be successful for both parties. (Lewis Geyer / Longmont Times-Call)